Playoff embarrassment brings changes

SHARKS SEASON PREVIEW

Published 4:00 am, Saturday, September 19, 2009

Photo: Dai Sugano, AP

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San Jose Sharks' Dany Heatley answers questions during a news conference on Friday, Sept. 18, 2009 inside HP Pavilion in San Jose. Heatley was traded to the Sharks, along with a fifth-round pick in 2010, for forwards Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek and a second-round 2010 pick. (AP Photo/Dai Sugano, San Jose Mercury News) ** NO SALES, MAGS OUT, NO INTERNET ** less

San Jose Sharks' Dany Heatley answers questions during a news conference on Friday, Sept. 18, 2009 inside HP Pavilion in San Jose. Heatley was traded to the Sharks, along with a fifth-round pick in 2010, for ... more

Photo: Dai Sugano, AP

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NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 15: Joe Thornton #19 of the San Jose Sharks skates against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on February 15, 2009 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 15: Joe Thornton #19 of the San Jose Sharks skates against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on February 15, 2009 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Photo: Jim McIsaac, Getty Images

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San Jose Sharks center Patrick Marleau, left, and Devin Setoguchi, celebrate Marleau's game-winning goal against the Anaheim Ducks in the third period of a first-round NHL hockey playoff game in Anaheim, Calif., Tuesday, April 21, 2009. Sharks won 4-3. (AP Photo/Mark Avery) less

San Jose Sharks center Patrick Marleau, left, and Devin Setoguchi, celebrate Marleau's game-winning goal against the Anaheim Ducks in the third period of a first-round NHL hockey playoff game in Anaheim, ... more

Photo: Mark Avery, AP

Playoff embarrassment brings changes

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Professional hockey's most interesting team is right here in the Bay Area.

Sure, there are arguments for the Stanley Cup winning Penguins and for the Washington Capitals with top goal scorer Alexander Ovechkin. For sheer intrigue, however, no one has it over the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks are coming off one of the all-time major playoff folds, they held onto their embattled ex-captain, and they added a premier scorer who is gaining a reputation as a prima donna.

San Jose churned out the league's best regular season record in 2008-09, winning the President's Trophy. Then the team fell flat on its rear in the first round, ousted in six games by the eighth-seeded Ducks.

Patrick Marleau drew a lot of heat for the club's early exit, and so too did center Joe Thornton. There was intense speculation - even one erroneous report by ESPN - that Marleau would be traded. Marleau, the team's all-time leading scorer, is still in the fold, but his captaincy was stripped last month.

Like Marleau, Heatley was the subject of rumors all summer. He had requested a trade after last season, but he rejected a potential deal to Edmonton, which raised eyebrows, particularly in the Canadian press - ask to be moved, then invoke your no-trade clause?

Heatley is a two-time 50-goal scorer, and Thornton and Marleau are also elite offensive players, giving the Sharks enormous firepower. Heatley and Thornton are likely to play on a line with Devin Setoguchi and Marleau would join the Ryane Clowe-Joe Pavelski unit, but head coach Todd McLellan might mix and match until he finds optimal combinations.

The Sharks have had off-the-charts talent before, but the team never has made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. April's flop was particularly galling after San Jose breezed through the regular season.

"The frustrating thing is that we don't feel we played up to our capabilities," Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said. "But you don't get 117 points without being able to play in a certain way. ... We have a lot of very good hockey players. We've said some things, learned some things, and we're all excited to come back and apply it."

Lost to hot Ducks team

Perhaps the successes of the regular season came back to bite the Sharks in the postseason. Unlike San Jose, Anaheim had to fight hard down the stretch just to make the playoffs and the Ducks' late roll also included a near upset of the defending champion Red Wings.

"We didn't raise our level," defenseman Rob Blake said. "As good as we were during the regular season, that's not good enough in the playoffs."

The main issue, however, was poor production from some key figures. Marleau and Thornton got the bulk of the criticism, but really, blame should be spread around. The second line of Clowe, Michalek and Pavelski tallied two goals in the Ducks series. McLellan and Wilson both mentioned Clowe and Pavelski as players who need to assume more responsibility.

"We're at that stage where we've been around long enough and we get a lot of ice time - we have to deliver," Clowe said. "We have to take some of the pressure off the top guys."

"That's a very important line and they'd be the first to tell you they didn't get it done," Wilson said. "The spotlight should be on (the star players), but other guys are important, too. It might be easier to say everyone played great except two or three guys, but that wasn't the case. We didn't play well as a group."

Marleau wasn't at his best

The Sharks also had some injured players who perhaps weren't fully ready to handle heavy-duty playoff chores. Every team has injuries by that point and they're loath to discuss them, but it was clear to most observers that Marleau, in particular, was not his usual self.

"We put the group back together too quickly," McLellan said of integrating some hurt players. "In retrospect, maybe we should have brought them along more slowly."

McLellan said there will be some minor changes in the way the team does things this season, little tweaks to plays and positioning, for instance. There will be younger players who might get more opportunity to play, such as forward Brad Staubitz and defenseman Derek Joslin. Rookies Logan Couture and Nicholas Petrecki are among those who might get looks.

And, of course, there will be a new captain.

"We're going in with a clean slate - no one was satisfied with what happened last year," McLellan said. "Not Patrick Marleau or Joe Thornton, not the captain or the assistant captains. No one."

Captaincies up for grabs

The leadership spots will be decided during camp, with intense defenseman Dan Boyle a favorite to be named captain and Blake a possibility for an assistant captain spot. No one has been ruled out, and that includes Thornton, who could well gain an "A" again.

"It's a very exciting time for us," Marleau said. "It's time to turn the page, start from scratch and build the team up again."

"There is a good core of guys in here," Boyle said, "and this organization has been lucky enough to have a good team the past four or five years. But there is a window, and we have to take advantage of it. We have to take the next step."

Sharks 2009-10 schedule

OCTOBER

1 - at Colorado, 6:30 p.m.

3 - at Anaheim, 7 p.m.

6 - at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.

8 - Columbus, 7:30 p.m.

10 - Minnesota, 7:30 p.m.

12 - Phoenix, 7:30 p.m.

15 - at Washington, 4 p.m.

17 - at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m.

19 - at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m.

22 - at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m.

24 - at Atlanta, 4 p.m.

25 - at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.

28 - Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.

30 - Colorado, 7:30 p.m.

NOVEMBER

1 - at Carolina, 10:30 a.m.

4 - at Columbus, 4 p.m.

5 - at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.

7 - Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.

10 - Nashville, 7:30 p.m.

12 - Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

14 - at St. Louis, 5 p.m.

15 - at Chicago, 4 p.m.

17 - at Nashville, 5 p.m.

20 - Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.

21 - at Anaheim, 7 p.m.

25 - Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

27 - at Edmonton, 6 p.m.

29 - at Vancouver, 7 p.m.

DECEMBER

1 - Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.

3 - St. Louis, 7:30 p.m.

5 - Calgary, 7 p.m.

9 - Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.

11 - Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

12 - at Phoenix, 5 p.m.

17 - Anaheim, 7:30 p.m.

21 - at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.

22 - at Chicago, 5 p.m.

26 - Anaheim, 7:30 p.m.

28 - Phoenix, 7:30 p.m.

30 - Washington, 7:30 p.m.

31 - at Phoenix, 4 p.m.

JANUARY

2 - Edmonton, 7 p.m.

4 - Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.

6 - St. Louis, 7:30 p.m.

9 - Detroit, 7:30 p.m.

11 - at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.

12 - at Phoenix, 6 p.m.

14 - Boston, 7:30 p.m.

16 - Edmonton, 1 p.m.

18 - Calgary, 7:30 p.m.

19 - at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.

21 - Anaheim, 7:30 p.m.

23 - Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.

28 - Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

30 - Minnesota, 7:30 p.m.

FEBRUARY

2 - Detroit, 7:30 p.m.

4 - at St. Louis, 5 p.m.

6 - at Nashville, 5 p.m.

8 - at Toronto, 4 p.m.

10 - at Columbus, 4 p.m.

11 - at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.

13 - at Buffalo, 4 p.m.

MARCH

2 - New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.

4 - Montreal, 7:30 p.m.

6 - Columbus, 7:30 p.m.

11- Nashville, 7:30 p.m.

13 - Florida, 7:30 p.m.

14 - at Anaheim, 5 p.m.

16 - at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.

18 - at Vancouver, 7 p.m.

19 - at Calgary, 6 p.m.

21 - at Edmonton, 5 p.m.

23 - at Minnesota, 5 p.m.

25 - Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

27 - Vancouver, 7 p.m.

28 - Colorado, 5 p.m.

31 - at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.

APRIL

2 - at Minnesota, 5 p.m.

4 - at Colorado, 5 p.m.

6 - at Calgary, 6:30 p.m.

8 - Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.

10 - Phoenix, 7:30 p.m.

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